


And Death An Afterthought

by darkrose



Series: Children of the Land [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Heavensward, Heavensward Spoilers, M/M, Magic, Post-Vault
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-26
Updated: 2016-05-26
Packaged: 2018-07-10 09:28:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6977680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkrose/pseuds/darkrose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Warrior of Light never seems to have time to stop and mourn those he has lost, but he will make time to swear bloody vengeance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And Death An Afterthought

**Author's Note:**

> After a six-month hiatus, I started playing Heavensward again and finally got to The Vault. A certain cutscene made me cry, especially because aside from one comment by Aymeric, no one seemed acknowledged how devastated by WoL was, and it was just off to the next quest. In my headcanon, after the debacle at Ok'Zundu, my Xaela WoL went out to the Western Highlands to grieve according to the traditions of his people.
> 
> And yes, I summoned the aesthetician so I could chop off his lovely long hair in game.
> 
> Game dialogue is from the English localization. Title is from "Dragonsong," by the incomperable Nobuo Uematsu.

_"If Lady Iceheart can use her own body as a vessel for summoning, I see no reason why others could not..."_

_"Good."_

_"Good? How is it good that the Archbishop and the Heavens' Ward mean to channel the power of a primal?" As usual, Alphinaud misses the warning in Galqar's tone._

_"Because killing primals is what I do." Galqar snarls, his voice colder than Halone's spear. "Life for death. I will have Ser Zephirin's heart for what he did to Haurchefant."_

Galqar had only seen the ritual once. He had barely been out of leading strings when his cousin Chiledu's husband had been killed, sacrificing himself to allow the children, sick and elders time to escape from Dotharl reavers. But a moment's concentration allowed him to access the Echo and find the words in a language he only half-remembered and shape them into the oath he needed.

"I, Galqar, son of the Dusk Mother, child of Clan Haragin, swear by stars and moons, by blood and body, to avenge the death of Haurchefant of the Silver Fuller. I will hunt Zepherin to the ends of the earth, through fire and water. I will boil the blood in his veins and slice his ears from his head to wear around my neck as a trophy. I will claw his heart from his chest and eat it in front of him and when he is at the brink of death, I will raise him and do it again and again until the full measure of my tears have been repaid in blood." 

Galqar gathered his hair--unbraided and hanging loose around his face--in one hand and picked up his knife with the other. In one swift stroke he sliced it at the base of his skull and dropped it into the brazier. As the room filled with the stench of burning hair, he drew the knife's blade across his palm, letting his blood drip into the flames. 

The fire flared blue for an instant and there was a crack like thunder. When the flames died away, the brazier was twisted and bent, the metal melted into slag. Galqar blinked once. The words of his oath were etched in his mind like a spell formula, and he knew somehow that his oath of vengeance had been heard and recorded, and it now bound him as surely as his summons bound the egis he commanded. 

The ruined house was stifling. Galqar rose and stepped outside, inhaling the icy air and staring up at the stars. He knew full well that vengeance wouldn't still his grief or bring Haurchfant back. But it was all he had, and he would embrace it like a new lover.

"Fuck Ishgard," he said to the night sky. "Fuck Thordan the First and his knights, fuck Nidhogg and every last dragon. I'll see Zepherin, the Heavens' Ward, and the archbishop dead, and then may the Seven Hells take you all."

Galqar reached in his pocket and closed his hand around the earrings he'd made for Haurchefant as a promise gift. The edges of the carved gems cut into his palm; when he took them out he nearly dropped them in surprise. He'd chosen the larimar because it was the same sky-blue as Haurchefant's eyes. Now--

Before he could finish the thought, the Echo took him, memories in full color, not faded because they were his own.

_It happens so fast._

_They're running, sprinting for the airship as Galqar curses his size and his lack of speed. Out of the corner of his eye he sees a flash of light; he hears Haurchefant yell "Look out!"_

_For a moment it looks like the shield of House Fortemps will hold. But mere metal, however well-crafted, cannot withstand a weapon of pure aether, as Galqar knows all too well. As Haurchefant crumples to the stone, Galqar fumbles with his soulstone bracelet, but he can't slot the Soul of the Scholar into place, can't focus enough to activate it, and deep down he knows it's too late, was too late the instant the aetheric lance pierced Haurchefant's armor._

_Aymeric is holding Haurchefant, but he gives way when Galqar kneels beside his lover. He casts a Physick spell--weak, but if nothing else perhaps it will ease Haurchefant's pain some._

_"You...you are unharmed?" Haurchefant manages to say, his breath coming in labored gasps. "F-Forgive me... I could not bear the thought of...of..." He reaches up with a shaking hand, and Galqar takes it in his, choking back a sob._

_"Oh, do not look at me so." Haurchefant's voice is barely a whisper. "A smile better suits a hero..."_

_Galqar forces his lips into a parody of a smile. Haurchefant mirrors it for an instant before the light fades from his eyes forever. Qalqar throws back his head and screams, a sound of distilled anguish, despair and rage._

_He carries Haurchefant in his arms all the way to Saint Reymanaud's Cathedral. Word has gone ahead, and Galqar reluctantly gives his burden to the priests' care, setting Haurchefant's body onto the bier that has been prepared. Before he turns to leave and face Count Edmont, he takes a last look at his beloved, soon to be interred in stone instead of properly given to water or fire. He reaches down, hands still stained red with his lover's blood, and gently, carefully, unhooks the earrings from Haurchefant's tapered ears, a reminder of a promise that will never be kept._

Haurchefant's blood had stained the earrings, soaking into the very structure of the larimar, turning one a pale lavender and the other a rich violet. When Galqar wrapped his fingers around the gemstones, they were warm, far warmer than they should have been in the freezing cold of a Coerthas night.

_I have the power to kill gods, and I would trade it in a heartbeat to be able to save one man._

**Author's Note:**

> The soulstone bracelet is my headcanon for the Job/Armory system. If you're not familiar with FFXIV, it's unique among MMORPG's in that one character can play every single class in the game--melee, ranged, magic, healer, tank, crafter, and gatherer. The one requirement is that you can't switch classes mid-battle.


End file.
